Six Point Films and
Hunan Film and TV Partner to Produce Feature Film
Melanie's Violin About the Jews of Shanghai
One of the most amazing and compelling survival episodes of
WWII and the Holocaust has remained, for the most part, a hidden story. Six Point Films, JLTV's sister company,
will produce with Hunan Film and TV, Melanie's
Violin, the true story of how nearly 20,000 European Jews sought refuge and
were sheltered by the Chinese people in Shanghai. These desperate Jews were shut out from almost every country
in the world without any options or entrance visas. There was a beacon of hope on the other side of the world,
and in one of the most unlikely places - the Japanese-controlled city of
Shanghai. The Jews formed a
settlement in this exotic city penniless, unannounced, and unprepared for their
new lives in the Far East. Funded
by Jewish organizations in America and by local Jewish businessmen including
the Kadoorie and Sassoon families, these survivors established their own
newspapers, kosher grocery stores, restaurants, and schools and took to the
task of being productive citizens.
Melanie's violin permeates the air of the Shanghai settlement with European
and Chinese music of this period, which becomes a central theme in this feature
film. JLTV will document the
making of Melanie's Violin. Oscar winner Branko Lustig, JLTV President Phil Blazer, and actress Lisa Lu are joining forces to produce Melanie's Violin based on a book by He Ning.
Below is a 10-minute documentary from 1939 form the Steven
Spielberg Jewish Film Archives at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
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